Process of making honey-comb foundations



(ModeL) .A. F. BONHAM. Process of Making Honey Comb Foundation.

No. 234,226. Patented Nov. 9,1880.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFIcE.

ANDREW F. BONHAM, OF SEVEN MILE FORD, VIRGINIA.

PROCESS OF MAKING HONEY-COMB FOUNDATIONS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 234,226, dated November9, 1880.

Application filed August 16, 1880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ANDREW F. BONHAM, of Seven Mile Ford, in the countyof Srnyth and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Processes of Making Foundations for Honey Combs inHives; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of thisspecification.

Figure l is a perspective view of a mold for making comb-foundations,showing them open and ready for operation. Fig. 2 is a sectional view ofthe same after being dipped in the melted wax. Fig. 3 is a sectionalview of the molds closed together for the purpose of forming thefoundations. Fig. 4. is a representation of a sheet of comb-foundationmade by my improved process.

Corresponding parts in the several figures are denoted by like lettersof reference.

This invention relates to an improved process for making foundations forhoney-combs in hives; and it consists in certain improvements in thesame, which will be hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in theclaim.

Comb -foundations have heretofore been made by pressing cakes of beeswaxbetween suitably-engraved rollers or messure-surfaces. In this manner,however, cracks, slits, or other defects are of frequent occurrence inthe sheets of foundation thus manufactured, and, even if not visible,such defects are almost invariably present, thus rendering themanufactured article unstable, easily bent, and thus injured ordestroyed.

To remedy such defects it has been attempted to insert in the foundationa net-work of fine wire. To this. the objection is not only the expense,which is quite an important item, but also the injury caused to theyoung brood by the wire, which, owing to the thinness of thefoundation-sheet, is necessarily at some places, and frequentlythroughout the surface of the sheet, exposed.

(ModeL) In carrying out my improved process I preferably employ twosemi-molds, A, made preferably of plaster-of-paris, and provided upontheir faces with triangular pyramidal projections B, fitting togethernicely, so as to produce the impression required. The said molds are,for convenience, fitted in wooden frames 0, hinged together at D, andhaving handles E, by which they may be readily and convenientlymanipulated.

In operation the apparatus is first opened, as shown in Fig. 1, and thenimmersed in water, so as to thoroughly soak the molds. The faces of thelatter are then dipped in melted wax, which will adhere withoutsticking, (owing to the faces having been soaked.) Next the molds areclosed together and some pressure exerted, so as to form of the waxadher ing to the molds a single sheet or cake. After permitting this tocool for a short time the apparatus is dipped in cold water andcantiously opened, when the foundatiou-sheet may be readily removed andthe operation repeated. The edges of the sheet may then be trimmed, whenit is ready for use.

The foundation-sheet produced in this manner is stronger, more easilyhandled, and freer of defects than those produced in any mannerheretofore known to me.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States- The herein-described process ofmanufacturing comb-foundations for hives, which consists in firstimmersing the molds in water, then dipping the faces of said molds inmelted wax, then closing them together and exerting pressure, andfinally removing the sheet thus molded, as and for the purpose setforth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW FULTON BONHAM.

Witnesses JNo. R. SExToN, G. F. BoNH'AM.

